


Given Name

by GemmaRose



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, M/M, Name Changes, Names
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-19 03:02:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14865362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemmaRose/pseuds/GemmaRose
Summary: “I don’t like being called by his name,” he said softly, “You guys thought I was him for so long, I just-” he sighed, and Lance released his prosthetic hand to cup his cheek.“Hey, if you don’t like it, you can always ask them to use your other name,” Lance suggested.He laughed, “What other name? Clone may cut it in space, but here-”“Clone? Oh, mi alma, is that what we’ve been calling you?”





	Given Name

“You two, keep it quiet,” Acxa grumbled in Galran, giving them both a glare that he still swore could melt plastic if someone just found the right lense to filter it through.

“Goodnight to you too,” Lance laughed, linking their arms together and pointing a sunny smile at one of the guards who were directing them to their rooms for the night, “So, which one’s ours?” his boyfriend asked, shifting so they were pressed together hip to shoulder.

“This one here,” said one of the guards who hadn’t bothered to introduce himself, stepping forward to open the door across the hall from Acxa’s.

“Thank you,” he inclined his head at the guard as Lance tugged him into the room, which turned out to be about as well furnished as the room they shared on Lotor’s ship. He heard a lock turn behind him, and rolled his eyes. As if wood and steel would be enough to stop any of them. Acxa could probably punch through the wall if properly motivated, he had his arm, and Lance had left his rifle on the ship but his armour still had a handful of tricks built in.

“So, ready to hit the sack?” Lance asked, already pulling up a screen from his vambrace.

“Just about, yeah,” he faked a yawn, sitting down on the edge of the mattress to let Lance’s armour run its bug scan.

Lance’s eyebrows went up, and he flipped the screen with his fingers to make it legible. No bugs? He felt his own eyebrows climb on his forehead, and Lance flipped the screen back around to hit a few more buttons. A grid of blue light covered the room for a few seconds, then vanished, and Lance sighed, “There we go. Now if they’re using some kind of distance bug, they still won’t be able to hear us. We’re totally soundproofed,” he grinned wickedly, and hookd his thumbs under the front edge of his breastplate.

“Think that’s quiet enough for Acxa?”

“I’m not really in the mood,” he said, standing and walking past Lance to the closet. His own armour felt heavy, stifling almost, after a full day of repeating himself ad nauseum.

“You’ve been tense since we got here,” Lance padded up behind him, arms draping over his shoulders, “Something bugging you?”

“A bit,” he grimaced, abandoning his cuirass to focus on removing the plates that covered his arms.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“It’s stupid,” he shook his head.

“Obviously not, if it’s bugging you,” Lance pointed out, pulling away and circling to stand between him and the closet, “or do you want to wait til we’re back home with Lotor?”

“How about until we’re out of our armour?” he suggested.

“That’s fair,” Lance chuckled, and stepped aside to work at his own protective gear. The two sets mingled on the closet floor, and he let Lance lead him to the bed once they were both down to nothing but their bodysuits, “Now,” Lance took both his hands, and looked him in the eye with a serious expression which was unfairly adorable, “what’s eating you?”

He looked down at where their fingers intertwined, Lance’s beautiful brown against his own pale skin and near-black space-silicone, “It’s just, everyone here keeps calling me Shiro,” he frowned, “I’m not him, and I know we’re not telling them the truth for a reason but-”

“But you don’t like lying?” Lance guessed.

“I don’t like being called by his name,” he said softly, “You guys thought I was him for so long, I just-” he sighed, and Lance released his prosthetic hand to cup his cheek.

“Hey, if you don’t like it, you can always ask them to use your other name,” Lance suggested.

He laughed, “What other name? Clone may cut it in space, but here-”

“Clone?” Lance’s eyes had gone wide in an expression something like horror, which made no sense because Lance _knew_ he wasn’t the real Shiro. Lance had been captured by the Empire in the first place during Voltron’s mission to get the real Shiro back, so what was his deal?

“Oh, mi alma, is that what we’ve been calling you?” Lance murmured, fingers stroking gently across his cheek.

“I’m sure it means something else in Galran,” he waved his free hand, and Lance caught it by the wrist.

“I don’t care what it means in Galran, I care what it means to you,” Lance frowned, nearly a pout, “We’re getting you a real name.”

“Lance, really, I-”

“How about Kuro?” Lance interrupted. He gave his boyfriend a flat look.

“Black? Really?” he raised an eyebrow, “That’s a colour, not a name.”

“Hey, gringos name their kids after colours all the time,” Lance crossed his arms.

“That’s because English is stupid,” he waved a hand dismissively.

“Uh, Shiron?” Lance frowned.

He shook his head.

“Shishiro?”

He snorted, “Not a chance.”

“Well what would _you_ pick?” Lance huffed, “It’s your name, after all.”

“I don’t know,” he murmured, looking down at his hands in his lap, “I’ve only ever been Kuron.”

Lance made a soft sound and tilted his chin up with gentle, trigger-calloused fingertips, “You were Shiro once, too. You still are, kinda.”

He frowned, and Lance continued before he could interrupt.

“His full name is Takashi Shirogane. Shiro is from his last name, so it’s not exactly wrong, now is it?” Lance smiled, hand sliding up to cup his cheek.

“I- don’t follow,” he frowned.

“You’re a clone of him, right? An exact physical copy,” Lance’s head tilted slightly, lips still pulling up ever so slightly at the edges as he spoke, “So, it’s kinda like you’re his twin. Just, one who was born a bit late.”

He laughed, short and startled, and Lance beamed, “A bit is an understatement,” he said, pulling Lance into a one-armed hug.

“I wonder...” Lance frowned slightly.

“Wonder what?” he watched as Lance picked up the tablet the Garrison had given them earlier and brought up an app.

“Here, can you write the Japanese characters for Shiro’s first name?” Lance held the tablet out to him. He took it, and thankfully the fingers of his prosthetic played nice with human touchscreens because his left hand lacked any kind of muscle memory for writing.

“There,” he said, handing it back to Lance, “Why did you want it?”

“Because names have meanings,” Lance smiled, tapping the button to translate the character into Spanish, “and twin names should match, don’t you think?”

He nodded. That did make a certain level of sense. At his side, Lance flipped the app to go from Spanish to Japanese and typed something into the text box. He scanned the resulting list of translations, and his mouth pulled up in a smile.

“See one you like?” Lance asked.

“No, just-” he tapped the second result, and Lance sniggered.

“Oh my god, seriously?” Lance covered his mouth with one hand, already laughing harder.

“Seriously,” he nodded, and Lance burst out cackling, falling backwards onto the bed.

“Oh, man. And he’s not even in Yellow!”

He watched Lance laugh for a minute, drinking in the sight of his boyfriend so unabashedly delighted. There was little cause for such pure, childish glee in space, and for once he was glad of the surveillance devices built into his body. This moment was being recorded as he watched, he could upload it to his computer on the ship later and save it forever.

“Okay, okay,” Lance gasped, turning to curl towards him with a smile, “Fun facts aside, you need a name.”

He scooted back a bit, toeing off his shoes as Lance looked back at the tablet, “Let’s use an actual website, instead of google translate.”

“That sounds like a good move,” he agreed, bending down to tug off Lance’s shoes as his boyfriend tapped at the touchscreen. Once those were on the floor, he gently pulled Lance with him to the head of the bed. His boyfriend made a happy little noise which was distinctly galran and even more distinctly _Lotor_ , and shifted to rest against his chest. At this angle, he could see the tablet screen clearly. Lance had found a site that listed given names alphabetically, and as he watched the page refreshed to show only Japanese boy names.

“So, any particular letter you wanna start with?” Lance asked, looking up at him with a small smile that would never fail to make his heart do backflips in his chest.

“T?” he said hesitantly.

“Alright,” Lance flicked the screen, scrolling rapidly down to the names that started with R. The S names passed quickly, and then the screen filled with names starting with T, “Tai-chi?” Lance snorted.

“Ta-ichi,” he corrected.

“Well, either way,” Lance looked up, grinning rakishly, “can’t say it’s inaccurate.”

He tensed as Lance ran a palm over his crotch, and gently lifted his boyfriend’s hand back to the tablet screen, “Not that one.”

“Tai-ki?” Lance suggested, and he shook his head again.

“Taka-” Lance frowned, eyes flicking over the screen for a second before scrolling it down a few lines, “nope, vetoed. How’s Takara sound?”

He considered that for a moment. This name was a gift from Lance, but as much as he loved the idea of being Lance’s treasure it didn’t sit quite right with him. Of the two of them, Lance was the jewel. He was just a soldier, a weapon designed with a singular purpose in mind, “Nene?” Lance touched his jaw, and he let his boyfriend tilt his head down until their eyes met.

“Not that one, either,” he shook his head, and Lance looked back down at the tablet.

“What about Takehiko?” Lance asked, and he leaned forward slightly to check the characters being used.

“Military prince,” he murmured, turning the name over in his head.

“Because, well, you’re a soldier, and I think we’re technically both princes. Or, we will be once everything’s settled. Unless galra have some other word for it,” Lance shrugged.

“Calinor Takehiko,” he said the name slowly, and Lance giggled.

“You’re such a _dork_.”

“But I’m your dork,” he grinned.

“Damn right,” Lance pulled him down for a kiss, “Shirogane Takehiko has a nice ring to it, though.”

“For now,” he pulled Lance into his lap fully and nuzzled his boyfriend’s cheek, “but I think I like Calinor better.”

“First we have to get through this, Také,” Lance twisted in his hold to straddle his lap, pressing a kiss to the edge of his lips, “and the wedding planning.”

He groaned dramatically, and Lance laughed again.

“It’s not _that_ bad.”

“Says the one who enjoys doing it,” he grumbled, letting his head hang back as Lance pressed gentle kisses to his throat.

“There’s something else I enjoy doing, too,” he murmured, “but I’ll have to drop the anti-bug field, or we won’t be able to make any outgoing calls.”

“Or,” he grinned, lifting his head to press a gentle kiss to Lance’s lips, “we send the video to Lotor after the fact.”

“Or we can do that,” Lance’s arms wound around his neck, “Now c’mon, Takehiko. Let’s ruin this bed.”

“With pleasure.”


End file.
